James Perspective:

  I was running towards my Domhouse, and I saw fire and smoke everywhere. I heard my mother scream in agonizing pain that made my heart ache. I hesitated, but still I ran inside, not noticing the man in a black-and-white suit. Wearing a top hat and a black cane, the handle of which was gold with black lines streaking across like lightning.

  My mother, sprawled on the floor unconscious, was in the kitchen. My father, who seemed to be dead, was lying right beside her. I wanted to cry, I wanted to scream, I wanted to wake up and let this all just be another bad dream. I ran towards the only one I could save at the moment, my sister. She was fine; she was hiding in a closet.

  “Are you okay?”

  “Yeah, but I think I broke my leg.”

  I cursed under my breath. My body had always been weak.

  “Get on my back,” I yelled.

  I picked her up and ran back toward the kitchen. The fire around here was dwindling. I reached my mother; her pulse was slow, her breath seemed heavy. I was too late, I didn’t believe it. I screamed, I yelled, I sobbed, I called her name till I couldn’t anymore. I sat there crying for over an hour, the Domhouse still burning. I left with a heart that finally processed what just happened, and that is that I was too late to save the one person who could ever truly understand my suffering. I always felt alone; now I might actually be.

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  Mini-Chapter Two

  The man in a suit

  We sat at the top of the hill, and we watched as the Domhouse turned to ashes, not noticing the man behind us.

  “Well, hello there, Name’s Azrel.”

  We were startled, my head turned, and I saw him, the man I only glimpsed when I entered the house, but now he wears a mask that covers his whole face and is black. Why does he like black so much anyway?

  “You two need help. You have abilities: one is her amazing brain, and the other is the ability to disappear from anyone's perspective. I am gonna train you. I must welcome you to the Alzaga forces.”

  “Alzaga forces, isn’t that a myth?”

  One of the forces known to scare even the emperor of galaxies, Ulinyg.

  “Oh, you think that it’s a myth,” he said, his voice as if he were amused. “So what do you think happens when endruls appear?” “The authorities take care of them, no?” I said confidently.

  “Yes, but king-class ones are not easy, and not just anyone can defeat them.”

  “Wait, I think we’re focusing on the wrong thing. You were here the whole time and did nothing. What’s with that? And why should we trust you? You can't just force us into the Alzaga Forces. What if we just want an easy life?”

  “When you are older, I will answer all your questions, even the ones you don’t yet realize are more important. Also, you’ve no choice,” he said, his voice calm, like it was the most normal thing in the world. I wanted to punch him, take my sister and run, but my legs were already useless carrying her. What could we do?